GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. is partnering with DMCI Homes, Inc. to offer easy subscription to Globe At Home services exclusive to DMCI condominium owners.

In a statement on Wednesday, the telecommunications giant said residents at The Birchwood and Ivory Wood in Taguig City, Asteria Residences in Parañaque City and Lumiere Residences and Sheridan Towers in Pasig City may now apply for subscription to Globe’s services directly through DMCI Homes.

It noted that Internet connection has now become a basic necessity, hence fitting to be among the offers bundled with ownership of property.

“When you think about it, you want the basic necessities in life, such as water and electricity, ready when you move into your new home… The same thing is now the case with internet — it has become a utility that homeowners need,” Globe’s GTM & Business Development Director for Broadband Michelle Marie Fernandez-Castillo said in the statement.

DMCI Homes Assistant Vice President for Marketing, Customer Care and Corporate Planning Januel Mikel O. Venturanza echoed the same sentiment, saying “It’s important for owners nowadays to have an internet connection at home so we thought of making it available once they move into their units.”

In June, Globe announced it will roll out its fifth-generation (5G) Globe At Home service by second quarter of 2019, in partnership with Huawei Technologies Ltd. The 5G integration is expected to allow the company to render internet speeds from 50 megabits per second (Mbps) to 100 Mbps through Air Fiber technology.

The Ayala-led company posted a 27% rise in attributable net income during the first quarter at P4.7 billion on the back of higher earnings.

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. said its net income grew by 21% to P9.8 billion in the first half, on the back of higher revenues as a result of growing data consumption.

In a regulatory filing, Globe said its core net income, which excludes the impact of non-recurring charges, one-time gain, foreign exchange gains and mark-to-market charges, increased 25% to P10 billion.

“Sustained topline performance was due to the continued expansion of the 4G and LTE network, and the growing preference of customers towards content-rich offerings and multimedia applications that enrich the Filipino digital lifestyle,” Globe said in a statement.

For the first half, consolidated service revenues went up 9% to P68.3 billion, “mainly on the back of the robust growth of data across all segments, given the burgeoning data consumption among customers.”

Globe said mobile revenues rose 9% to hit P52.6 billion, mainly from Globe Prepaid and its mass market brand TM. Revenues of its home broadband and corporate data business also improved by 12% to P8.6 billion and 9% to P5.4 billion, respectively.

“This was boosted by the expansion of subscribers and continued high demand for various business solutions catering to the needs of corporate and enterprise clients. Including the impact of PFRS (Philippine Financial Reporting Standards) 15, total consolidated service revenues for the period stood at P67.3 billion,” the telco said.

For the period ending June 30, Globe’s mobile subscribers stood at 65.1 million, up 9% from 59.7 million subscribers last year as a result of efforts in attracting high-value subscribers for its prepaid brands.

Globe’s total home broadband subscriber base stood at 1.5 million as of end-June, 22% higher from a year ago.

However, fixed-line voice revenues dropped 17% to P1.51 billion during the first half.

THE SECURITIES and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the incorporation of Globe Telecom, Inc.’s new company that would build cellular towers, the telecommunications giant said on Wednesday.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Globe said it received the SEC’s approval on the incorporation of GTowers, Inc. on Aug. 20.

“The establishment of a tower company will help speed up the building and deployment of cellular towers in the country,” the company said.

In July, Globe said it will incorporate a separate tower holding company. After securing SEC approval, the company said it will begin divesting all or some of its tower assets.

Globe earlier said it was in talks with certain parties to form an independent tower company to help speed up the building and deployment of cellular towers.

However, Globe President and Chief Executive Officer Ernest L. Cu told reporters last month it has yet to come up with an agreement with these parties.

“The companies themselves are evaluating what the model will be. I guess paramount in their minds is whether a single tenant or the risk of having only one tenant on the tower company will be worth it for them,” he said.

Mr. Cu has said incorporating a separate tower holding company would “monetize assets for capex (capital expenditure) use and help maintain our consistent dividend policy.”

He noted this would also support the government’s initiative to find a third major player in the telco industry, as Globe plans to lease its towers.

Rival PLDT, Inc. said late last month that it is open to sharing towers should they be approached, but under some conditions.

“Obviously somebody has to step up and say, ‘Here’s a tower, you can share.’ And it has to be at an operating cost that is lower than our operating cost today, to make sense,” PLDT Chief Corporate Services Officer Ray C. Espinosa told reporters in late July.

Under their franchise, Globe and PLDT are allowed to build their own cellular towers for exclusive use.

But the government is pushing the companies to consider sharing their towers because of its economic benefits. Last month, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) received a P100-billion proposal from local company ISOC Infrastructures, Inc. to build 25,000 common towers over a seven-year period.

DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. said then they are open to accommodating up to two independent tower companies.

“We are on course to fulfill our commitment of deploying LTE services to 95 percent of municipalities nationwide by the end of 2018,” Globe Senior Vice President for Program Governance Joel R. Agustin said in the statement.

The Ayala-led telco giant noted its customers’ continued use of streaming services is spurring demand for mobile data. Globe said mobile data traffic grew 40% to 390 Petabytes in the first six months of 2018 compared to 280 Petabytes during the same period last year.

Globe saw its net income for the first half of the year rise 21% to P9.8 billion, fueled by higher revenues driven by strong demand for data.

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. is expecting to speed up the roll out of more than 120 cell sites in Metro Manila as it signed an agreement with the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to cut the process for securing permits in building telco infrastructure.

In a statement over the weekend, the Ayala-led telecommunications giant said the deal allows it to deploy small cell antennas along EDSA, Roxas Boulevard, C5 and Congressional Avenue, among other locations.

“Securing various permits for the construction of telco infrastructure such as cell sites has long been a major challenge of the industry. We want to thank MMDA for sharing our vision of a connected Philippines by allowing us to deploy sites faster,” Globe President and Chief Executive Officer Ernest L. Cu said in the statement.

Globe said around 25 permits from local government units are needed to set up a radio tower, and the process takes about eight months. With the MMDA deal, Globe said the small cell antennas will help improve wireless network coverage in major thoroughfares controlled by MMDA.

“Globe Telecom has been a long time partner of the agency in terms of public service. This agreement is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s policy of easing the process of doing business in the Philippines and MMDA’s contribution to improving telecommunications service in Metro Manila,” MMDA Chairman Danilo D. Lim was quoted as saying.

In August, Globe gained approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the establishment of a separate tower company expected to “help speed up the building and deployment of cellular towers in the country.”

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. reported its net income grew 3% during the third quarter to P5.02 billion, driven by an 11% increase in revenues from its expanding customer base.

In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, the telecommunications giant said third quarter revenues stood at P37.53 billion as the number of its mobile subscribers jumped 10% year-on-year to 65.4 million as of end-September and home broadband subscribers by 23% to 1.5 million.

For the nine-month period, Globe’s net income rose 17% to P15.15 billion, from the P12.99 billion recorded a year ago. Core net income, which eliminates non-recurring charges, one-time gains, foreign exchange gains and mark-to-market charges, was up 32% to P14.8 billion for the January to September period.

Consolidated service revenues increased 9% to P103.3 billion in the first nine months of 2018, “fueled by the surging data revenue growth across all segments.”

“The sustained growth momentum was fueled by better-than-expected data-related revenue growth across all business segments. This performance was boosted by the most pervasive 4G/LTE network, supported by the Company’s superior content offerings, through its partnerships with industry leaders and global content providers of music, lifestyle, video and eSports,” Globe said in a statement.

For the first nine months of the year, mobile revenues rose 8% to P79.1 billion, mainly driven by Globe Prepaid and TM.

Globe said its home broadband grew by 15% to P13.5 billion, while its corporate data business increased 11% to P8.4 billion. This offset the 16% drop in fixed-line voice revenues to P7.4 billion.

Total operating costs and subsidy, including depreciation charges, was 3% higher at P76.6 billion “as the increase in depreciation charges were partially offset by the decline in subsidy, interconnect costs, and rent expenses.”

Globe spent P32.5 billion in capital expenditures for the first nine months of 2018, 11% lower than the same period last year. The bulk or 78% of capex was allotted for its data-related services.

“We will remain aggressive with our network investments, which is now nearly 32% of our revenues to be able to support the growing demand for bandwidth-intensive applications and content,” Globe President and Chief Executive Officer Ernest L. Cu was quoted as saying in a statement.

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. expressed doubt the new major telco player can deliver the elevated level of service it promised during the first year of its operations, noting that it will likely face the same challenges faced by the incumbents in building network infrastructure.

Globe President Ernest L. Cu told reporters in a chance interview on Tuesday the provisional new telco player, Mislatel Consortium, is unlikely to succeed in providing an average minimum broadband speed of 27 Megabits per second (Mbps) in its first year of operations and 55 Mbps on its second, as indicated in its bid.

“There’s no telco that can do that in one year, in my opinion… To me, it’s 24 months. Let’s see. We use the same equipment, we go through the same permitting process. Let’s see,” he said.

According to an August report from wireless coverage mapping company OpenSignal, the average download speed for Globe is 5 Mbps, and for its rival PLDT, Inc., 7.5 Mbps.

Information and Communications Technology Chief Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. said in a social media post on Saturday the consortium of China Telecommunications Corp., Dennis A. Uy’s Udenna Corp. and its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. — named together Mislatel Consortium from the name of franchise holder Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. (Mislatel) — is now cleared to be declared winner in the bidding as its competitors’ motions for reconsideration have already been denied.

“Mislatel made a commitment to greatly improve our telecommunication industry that can bring us at par with Singapore and is putting a hefty performance bond (P24B) if they fail in its commitments in a five-year period,” Mr. Rio said.

The bidding’s terms of reference require the new telco player to submit an annual audit of its commitments to the NTC, which if unfulfilled, will require it to forfeit its performance security and give back its awarded radio frequencies to the government.

Globe’s Mr. Cu said aside from Mislatel’s speed commitment, its population coverage commitment of 37.03% in the first year and 84.01% cumulative coverage over a five-year period is also questionable.

“I don’t think there’s any telco in the world that in their first year of operations, other than (India’s) Reliance Jio, that they get significant market share from incumbents in the first year. But the caveat there is that Reliance Jio, before they launched, was building for four to five years… They had a few hundred plus thousand cell sites by the time they launched… (For Mislatel), this is their required, (that) they’ve covered x% of the country…,” he said.

The success of Mislatel Consortium largely hangs on the contribution of seasoned telco China Telecom, one of the biggest mobile telco providers in China. But Mr. Cu said operating in the Philippines is a different case as it sets different conditions for companies.

“There’s nuances in every country with regard to telco. The regulatory framework is different. We have a very complex regulatory framework from national government down to LGU (local government unit), down to the barangay level. So I hope they took that into consideration when they promised they would roll out that much in one year. Because today, we still have pending cell sites…,” Mr. Cu said.

Dissatisfied with the reign of Globe and PLDT, President Rodrigo R. Duterte sought to find a “third telco” that would break their duopoly.

Mr. Rio himself, in his Saturday social media post, noted the incumbents did not have to commit topnotch services as what is required from the new telco player.

“They never posted any performance security. For the first time in our history, we required a new telco player to come up with time-bound commitments and putting their money where their mouths are,” he said.

Amid the government’s hopes for Mislatel’s success, both Globe’s Mr. Cu and PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said they don’t see the entry of a new competitor to post immediate impact on revenues and subscriber base.

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. said it will start changing by March next year the landline numbers of its customers in Greater Metro Manila from a seven-digit telephone number to an eight-digit combination, in compliance with an order from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

The company said in a statement on Monday all its customers that have a landline subscription with an assigned area code of 02 will have an additional “7” at the start of their phone numbers starting March 18, 2019.

This means that customers of Globe and its subsidiary Innove Communications, Inc. with a telephone number of (02) XXX-XXXX will have a new number that is (02) 7XXX-XXXX.

“We are working closely with the NTC and other telcos to assist affected customers before, during and after the migration. We would like to see all our customers being aware of this change before it comes into effect,” Globe General Counsel Vicente Froilan M. Castelo said in the statement.

Last year, the NTC issued Memorandum Order No. 10-10-2017 which required a public telecommunication entity (PTE) identifier for fixed-line numbers under the area code 02. This puts an additional digit in landline numbers, making it an eight-digit telephone number for residents in Greater Metro Manila area.

“This directive is to ensure there will be sufficient resource pool to cater to the rapid growth of landline customers in major cities,” Globe said.

The Ayala-led telco company noted customers may experience downtime during the transition period, which it scheduled on March 18 from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.

For the three-month period from March 18 to June 17, Globe said it will play a special announcement to whoever will mistakenly dial old seven-digit landline numbers to inform them of the new eight-digit format with the PTE identifier.

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. on Tuesday said it has secured a P5-billion loan from China Banking Corp.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Globe said it will use the loan proceeds to partially fund its capital expenditures and general corporate requirements.

Globe President Ernest L. Cu had previously told reporters while the company has not finalized its 2019 capex yet, the figure is likely to remain close to its budget this year, which was at $950 million (about P49.8 billion).

For the first nine months of 2018, Globe has spent P32.5 billion to expand its network, in response to the growing subscriber base and increasing demand for data.